More Animals

This morning I saw a black squirrel and deer - including fawns - on my way to work.

Today is the lottery to see if we get to move classrooms next year; one of the math teachers with a nice classroom is leaving, so today we may see who gets to move.
We also may get to see what we're most likely teaching next year; I'm excited about that! If I had another job in the district besides teaching, I would like to be the data processor who does the scheduling stuff because for some reason I find that stuff cool.

My mom has to have surgery next Wednesday, she just found out yesterday. Its supposed not to be a big deal, but any surgery to me is a pretty big deal. I may take off the day, or maybe another day after she gets out would be better....

So many people let life carry them along. They fill it with stuff so they're so busy and they convince themselves that they have to do all those things, but in reality maybe they are running after rizq more than they need to or inefficiently, etc., and they lose sight of what at least I think really matters - relationships with people and with God. Not saying those completely go by the wayside - they may still devote time to go to church or mosque and to pray, read Qur'an, etc., but they miss the reflection and quietness with God, they miss quality time with family except in rare intervals, scheduled precisely. I think this is really sad and even dangerous behavior that affects the very best of us. Being busy isn't all bad; devoting ourselves to good things is nice, trying to better yourself in education and work has its merits, but sometimes people spread themselves too thin or get to emmeshed in things that detract from the most important parts of life. Suddenly someone is 55 and wishes they'd spent more time with family, children, God. I just don't believe you can make up for lost time - lost time is gone forever, you've only got the present to work with.....

On perhaps a contradictory topic, I'm thinking of doing a PhD program starting this summer as soon as I finish my masters'. I found a program that looks pretty painless, actually and I am attracted. So, we'll see insha'allah.